Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia is under fire after an announcer at the Jefferson College of Nursing’s graduation ceremony severely mispronounced the names of many students. This incident on Thursday, May 9, went viral on social media and led the school to issue an apology.
One of the graduate’s names was Allison Nicole Bishop. However, the graduation announcer pronounced it as “Al-li-soon-a-cole-bee-shup.” Another student named Sarah Virginia Brennan was introduced by the graduation announcer as “Sai-er-oo-voon-jean-joo-bree-yan.” Another student named Molly Elizabeth Camp had her name pronounced as “Moll-eena-zabeth-cap.”
One student whose name is the same as the university’s had the pronunciation of his name butchered by the announcer.
The student, Thomas, had his name pronounced as “Tha-moo-may.”
After the graduation flub, the school released a statement apologizing for the errors and said the incident was due to how the students’ names were written on the graduation announcer’s cards.
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“The leadership and faculty of Thomas Jefferson University extend our sincerest apologies for the mispronunciations of the names of several of our graduating nursing students during our recent commencement ceremony,” the statement said. “This ceremony is a celebration of the significant achievements of our students, and each graduate deserves to have their name honored correctly on this pivotal day.”
“We also recognize that commencement is not only a milestone for our students but also a deeply important day for their families and loved ones who have supported them throughout their educational journey, and we are deeply sorry for any disappointment this may have caused,” the statement added. “The mispronunciations occurred due to the way phonetic spellings were presented on the speaker’s cards, which was noted when the presenter apologized during the ceremony. This unfortunate error does not reflect the immense respect we have for our graduates and the value we place on their hard-earned accomplishments.”
